​If you've watched Dollhouse -- or heard any of my identical rants about the Joss Whedon show -- you know that it's a secret company that plants memories and personalities into people's minds, so that people people can order whoever they want -- a lover, a confidante, a whore, a bodyguard, a prostitute, a back-up singer, a companion, and yes, sometimes even a sex partner. Granted, these "Dolls" don't really have a say in the matter, and their personalities are effectively erased until their tenure is over, but Japan has found a workaround -- Japanese people. From Sci-Fi Wire:

A growing sector of business in Japan rents out fake spouses, best
men, relatives, friends, colleagues, boyfriends and girlfriends so that
clients can avoid embarrassment at social functions, the British Guardian newspaper reports.

The agency is called Hagemashi Tai (I Want to Cheer You Up) ... sound like "Happiness Consultants" from HBO's Hung? ...

One agency now employs about 30 people of various ages and both
sexes across Japan with the skills and personality to temporarily adopt
a new identity: as the father of a boy who is in trouble at school, for
instance, or the parents of a woman attending a formal match-making
party. And there are 10 across the country, the newspaper reports.

For more -- and the story of one of these non-Dolls in action, check out the story in The Guardian (which also happened to note the WHOSE RESPONSIBLE THIS phenomenon and called me a bully, but whatever). Much thanks to Katie Doyle for the tip.!-->